On Monday, thousands of restless workers and labourers came out on roads demanding that they be allowed to move to their native states. Police urged them to keep calm and cooperate with authorities. Cops assured the impatient crowd that the administration is making all possible efforts to facilitate their return home.
However, workers turned violent and started pelting stones at policemen following which cops resorted to lathicharge in order to control the crowd. Surat district police was later forced to use tear gas shells to disperse them.
"The incident took place near Vareli village on the outskirts of Surat while the migrant workers were demanding that arrangements be made to send them back to their native places in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown," a police official told news agency PTI.
The labourers also damaged some vehicles parked on Surat-Kadodara road, the official said.
They clashed with police and threw stones at them, following which the security personnel retaliated and lobbed teargas shells and lathi-charged the agitated workers. The situation was later brought under control and security was stepped up in the area.
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In the past two weeks, Gujarat has seen multiplying number of COVID-19 in the state with Surat alone reporting as many as 30 deaths until now. Till Monday, the state recorded total of 5,428 corona virus patients. While more than 1,000 people have recovered and returned home, 290 people have lost their lives o the novel Coronavirus.